Blue Hawks move into third place with four-game sweep of Dakota State

Sagan Osborne | Dickinson State Sports Information Director

Dickinson, N.D. – Just like on Sunday, a late come from behind victory in game one led to a big start in game two as Dickinson State swept the doubleheader, and four-game series, with Dakota State to move into third place in the North Star Athletic Association.

GAME 1

A three-run bottom of the seventh inning erased a two-run deficit to hand DSU a 6-5 victory in game one.

Rhea Paiva put the Blue Hawks out in front, 2-0, with an RBI double in the second inning, and the lead was extended to 3-0 when Kara Conway followed with an RBI single. Four straight hits by the Trojans in the top of the third inning tied the game at 3-3, and DaSU took the lead in the fourth inning on a bases loaded walk and an RBI single.

Trailing 5-3 heading into the bottom of the seventh, the Blue Hawks felt right at home, a day after they erased a two-run final frame deficit DSU did it again. Paiva and Conway started the inning with consecutive singles and Ari Martinez advanced both runners with a sacrifice bunt. Hailey Enriquez then doubled off the top of the right field wall, missing a walk off home run by inches, to score both runners and tie the game at 5-5. A passed ball moved pinch runner Kennedy Kuntz to third base and Dallis Mitchell hit a fly ball deep enough to score Kuntz for a walk off sacrifice fly.

GAME 2

Rhea Paiva and Ari Martinez both went 3-3 as Dickinson State rolled past Dakota State, 11-0 in game two to complete the four-game sweep. The Blue Hawks scored in all four innings that they batted in and Alexa Kappel threw a five inning shut out allowing just five hits as they cruised into third place in the NSAA.

A pair of sacrifice flies from Kara Conway, scoring Paiva who singled and stole second and third, and Dallis Mitchell put DSU up 2-0 after one inning. Paiva had her hand in the next two runs as well, driving home Madeline Peralta with an RBI triple and scoring on a wild pitch to put the Blue Hawks up 4-0. Ari Martinez added an RBI triple of her own on a ball just inside the right field foul line and scored one batter later on an RBI single from Hailey Enriquez, making it 7-0 DSU after two innings.

A bases loaded double from Martinez scored all three runs in the third inning and Cassidy Venner drove in the final DSU run with an RBI double in the fourth. Dickinson State did not commit a single error in the second game, playing strong defense behind Kappel's great effort.